Yamiko and Lupin strode up the hill rather effortlessly, unphased by the slopes, sure in their footing, quiet in their steps. Rigel occasionally slipped backward on dirt-lined slopes because of his weight, but soon enough he was able to figure out that digging his dull, stout claws into the dirt helped with that--they were like cleats. Velvet and Artemis bounced along beside him, and Laverne floated behind the trainer couple, grinning. But the group didn't get too far before a shout issued from the group at the bottom of the hill. Apparently, the boy who had lost his watch found it, and was rejoicing.
See? I didn't steal it, Lupin said to himself.
"Hold on a moment," Lupin said aloud, a thought having just occurred to him. Yamiko and the Pokemon stopped to listen, while he took out his mobile. "Let me try calling Halberd. If there's no signal, that means we're in a very foreign and/or desolate world. If there is a signal, we can tell him where we are, and he can use his tracking device to pinpoint our location--or at least the region in which we're located."
Yamiko nodded, thinking this a good idea. But at the last moment, just as Lupin was about to press the call button, she interrupted.
"Wait a minute. There are some bombs that go off when triggered by a remote electrical signal, such as a cell phone going off."
"Such bombs would only be placed in places of cilivisation," Lupin remarked, pressing the call button. Nothing happened, though Yamiko did hold her breath for a while.
"Who dares call me from a number not in my inventory?" an exasperated-sounding voice answered.
Lupin's brow furrowed. Who is this? This definitely isn't Halberd...
"I call because I am potentially interested in your services," he finally replied, playing along with the motives of the guy on the other end of the line.
Yamiko raised an eyebrow. What in the world is Lupin talking about? He sounds like he's talking to a stranger...
While she was thinking that, Lupin raised a finger, signaling her to wait, to be quiet. Yamiko knew this meant business... of some sort.
"Indeed you have some nerve," the man on the other end of the line commented. Apparently Lupin had put his mobile on speaker mode so that Yamiko could hear. "We Vigilants are a group feared by the general public. Are you perhaps a traveling soldier with time on his hands?"
"Yes, in fact," Lupin replied. A peculiar smile played across his face, but his voice remained unchanged. Yamiko knew that he was fabricating a lie, but whoever was on the phone probably couldn't tell. "Nowadays the army doesn't pay too much attention to me, mainly because they think I'm too quote-in-quote 'individual' for their likes. I hesitate to disobey the monotonous orders of the generals, which involve attacking random cities and marching in specified patterns and operating noisy machinery with a team. I like to be the sole operator who heeds the advice of venerable leaders and acts in secret."
"Hm. What is your name?"
"Clyde Barrendale. I have served in the army for only six months, but before that I did bounty work, hunting down war criminals and turning them in for rewards. I believe that enemies within are more dangerous than enemies without, if you follow my meaning."
"Where do you live?"
"I wander around, though it is not hard for me to return home--or at least this city which I could sort of call home."
"Hmmm." There was a pause. "I like characters like you, from what you are telling me. However, I cannot fully trust you until I meet you in person. I warn you though--should you fail to live up to my standards, I shall execute you at once. If you still persist, meet me in Warehouse 43A, in the southwest corner of this city."
"I have wandered around the area for quite some time, so the city of which you are speaking slips my mind. I have not heard of the location of your office."
"That's because it's secret, silly. I know not where you are calling from, but our meeting city is Headport. Surely you recall it as an industrial hub, surrounded by factories and warehouses--like 43A."
"I'll be there. But before we part our conversation, I would like a heads-up on some of the details of the position."
"As we are called the Vigilants, we are vigilantes, ever in pursuit of those who oppose the army. You need to be of good judgment, so that you can sort out the rebels from the soldiers. Your experience as a soldier gives me a tiny bit of hope--but again, that shall be proven. You need skill in weaponry, or at the very least it is highly recommended. You will be given assignments--someone to hunt, something to watch over. I will assess your individual skills in the interview, so to speak."
"Is tomorrow morning at 10 a good time?"
"You got it."
With that Lupin hung up.
Yamiko stared a while in bewilderment. "Niiiice. He really did seem fooled. But I hope you're not actually going to that interview."
"Of course not," Lupin affirmed, starting up the hill again and putting his mobile away. "But, now we have some information."
"But what about that call? Apparently, we are in a different world, and someone in this world has a phone number identical to Halberd's. That's a highly unlikely coincidence."
The two pondered this as they continued up the hill. But once they reached the top, a new sight overwhelmed their previous thoughts. There was a small town amidst a bunch of other hills, which were even browner and drier than this one was. A bunch of the houses were dilapidated, but a few remained standing. One or two fires blazed in a remote corner of town, and there were several dead and fallen trees. Yamiko and Lupin caught the faint glimpse of dead people lying near some of the houses. However, the occasional speck of a person moved about, and there appeared to be a downtown that was left undamaged.
Artemis was the first to descend into the town, being the scout in these kinds of situations. She bounded towards the houses, and headed down a street and disappeared. Yamiko and Lupin and the other Pokemon followed slowly and cautiously behind. But they were two thirds of the way down the hill when they heard gunshots coming from the town, soon followed by the pained howl of a Mightyena.
"Artemis!" Lupin realised, thereupon sprinting down the hill, towards the source of the gunshots. Soon enough another howl came, a bit softer and sadder this time. Yamiko immediately ran after him, but she tripped on a loose rock on the hillside.
"Fi!"
Before Yamiko could fall forward onto the ground, Velvet held her under telekinetic control, breaking her fall. She used that same force to lift her off the slope and land her near the bottom of the hill, where the land was more level. Soon Lupin reached that landing spot, and so he and Yamiko continued into the town. They passed between two houses whose roofs looked like they had fallen in, turned right on a street, and soon enough they came to a small crowd of people, two of which were holding guns. A small lump lay on the floor before them. Occasionally it barked and whined. As Yamiko and Lupin caught closer, they caught glimpses of what the people were saying.
"What's a wolf doing in these parts anyway?" said one man, a police officer by the looks of it.
"It's a strange-looking wolf, that's for sure," one woman commented. "Never saw anything like it in these parts. And since when did wolves have red noses?"
"I hope it didn't eat any of my sheep!" shouted one of the armed men. He wore a straw hat and held a rifle--probably a farmer.
As Yamiko listened in, Lupin pulled her off to the side, into a space in between two empty buildings. Moments later, the two guns glowed with a blue aura, and then they floated out of their bearers' hands, flew some hundred feet away from the crowd, and landed with a clatter on the ground. Velvet appeared, standing beside Artemis.
"Fi! Fi! Fiiii fi fi!" she protested, shouting at the crowd. There was a threatening glint in the orb on her forehead.
People gasped, taken aback.
"What in tarnation is THAT thing?" one woman blurted.
"Must be the result of a Goldainian science experiment gone wrong," a boy commented.
"My gosh, it has a Y-shaped tail and purple fur--and an orb on its head!" another man shouted. "It must be a monster of some sort!"
"Or an evil demon!" the boy from before guessed. "With evil powers!"
Yamiko and Lupin looked at each other in alarm.
"They act as if they have never seen a Pokemon before!" Yamiko exclaimed in a whisper.
"Maybe they haven't," Lupin guessed. "Maybe this is a world where Pokemon don't normally exist. That farmer probably mistook Artemis for an ordinary wolf."
Before doing anything else, the two returned Artemis and Velvet to their Pokeballs. Then they ran along the gap in between the buildings, vanishing from sight of the crowd.
When they exited the town again, it wasn't too long before Rigel and Laverne spotted them. Rigel jogged up to them, asking what was wrong.
"They shot at Artemis," Lupin recalled, slightly out of breath. "I don't think this town is safe for Pokemon."
"I don't even think they ever heard of Pokemon," Yamiko added. "I think we should hide and see what we can do about Artemis."
Yamiko and Lupin went back to the side of the hill, then released Velvet and Artemis again. By then they could see a bullet wound just behind the Mightyena's shoulder. Little whimpers of pain issued from Artemis's nose, and her body trembled a bit. To comfort her, Yamiko petted her on the head, scratching behind her soft, furry ears.
"You all right?" Yamiko asked her, a tear falling onto the ground beside Artemis's head. "Please hang in there..."
Rigel placed a large paw on Artemis's side, rubbing her in a gentle fashion.
<"There there valiant majesty,"> he reassured her, <"don't let such a wound sway you.">
Meanwhile, Laverne managed to extract the bullet telekinetically; Rigel turned away from this procedure in disgust. Velvet examined the wound closely.
"Fiiiii..."
She looked up to the sky and glowed with a faint orange aura. For a moment the ash in the skies stirred, but soon afterward a narrow yet bright ray of sunlight shone on Velvet. Then it reflected off of Velvet's orb and shone on Artemis's wound.
"The Morning Sun technique," Yamiko explained to Artemis. "Hopefully that will make you feel better."
"Oi, Rigel!" Lupin called all of a sudden, turning around to see the giant dog running back up the hill. "Where are you going?"
Rigel barked, then motioned with his head to a point over the hill--where the other newcomers were. Lupin nodded in agreement.
Good thinking, Rigel, he thought. You concern yourself more with the safety of strangers than I do. I concern myself more with the safety of those who... resonate with me, in some way. At this point he shot a brief glance at Yamiko.
<"Attention everyone!"> Rigel boomed, standing on the slope of the hill and announcing for all the Pokemon there to hear. <"Be careful in this world! Apparently Pokemon are foreign to this world! The people here know nothing about of us! One of them has shot at one of us, even!">
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OOC: It was a long post, but I had to make up for lost time.
